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The best of luck Bud. We want to see you back in good order soon and dangling a line in the water - here and elsewhere!

Admit it Hardy it was more about the plaudits from the likes of Inverdale etc.  We are in an era where people prefer to define themselves by what others think of them than what their own heart tells them..When I think of Seán Kelly, I have more respect for the Davy Tweeds of this world who at least stands for something - even if it is the British anthem.

As I said, you're right. I just didn't know what made me do it. Now I know. It's because I want to have John Inverdale's babies. My years of laying out the arguments here about the benefits to the GAA, how we should utilise our assets to the maximum benefit of the association, what we could do with the money, how it would be (IMO) an act of extreme stupidity to turn it down ... that was all just an oul smokescreen. Sean Kelly put us all up to it.  For a knighthood.

Happy now?

(Is Seán Kelly an exception to the laws of libel - people here seem to feel free to say anything they like about him. I think it should stop, myself).

I would just see it as cringeworthy like the use of 'Great' or any other 19th century notion they sometimes hang on to.

I don't see any problem with the word "Great" in "Great Britain". I think it's just the geographical name of the island - i.e. the largest of the geographical British Isles, similarly to "Great Blasket". I don't think it's meant to apply to their status as a nation, though I've no doubt many of their great unwashed think it does.

I think I've seen two different explanations for the term. One is that it distinguishes the island as a whole from "Britain", which actually comprises England and Wales only. Another is that it goes back to Norman times, and it was named in reference to the other part of their kingdom in Northern France, that we now call Brittany. So you had "Bretagne" and "Grand Bretagne".

I believe it was the gombeen mindset that opened it,  these guys werent interested in France or USA or Germany seeing Croke Park, in a perverse way they really only weanted to show it off to the English, our vanity made us blind to those who wanted to show Rugby off to the Irish in the best way possible.

I envy your insight into the minds of those who were/are in favour of 'opening' Croke Park. I didn't realise that's why I was for it. Thanks for letting me know.

I'm just in from the pub. There's no concept of closing time in my local. That has its positives and its negatives, but my rugby alickadoo friend told me a good one I had to tell yiz: Good old GAA – gave England the Mayo dressing room.

That's an argument for refusing to take the money if you won the lottery.

Sorry - guilty. I said I was outraged. OK - OTT. But not much. And it's not about politics at all.

OirthearMhaigheo, Billy - thank God - I thought I was going mad!

I think you're right, Billy - it started being used in reference to NI vs Britain. It first appeared as 'mainland Britain' as I remember. This then gradually became 'the mainland'. As I say, it's not a political issue for me, but I can't believe that an uber-chuckie like Lynchbhoy is OK with it!   

That's the whole point Sammy. Europe IS the mainland. Britain and Ireland are approximately equally islands off the mainland. For Britain to think of itself as the mainland for Ireland (and it never did until the media started to use the term) is ludicrous. It's not a political issue for me - it's national pride (or chauvinism, maybe).

As I say, I hadn't realised until today and I'm absolutely AMAZED that it has grown into acceptance in Ireland. It proves the power of the media. I'm sure those of my vintage here will agree that it's a relatively recent coinage. I remember resistance to it from Irish public people when it first started to appear. More than once I heard RTÉ people pull up Brits on it. I particularly remember John Bowman on the radio interrupting a British politician (I can't remember who) when he used the term. Bowman was almost incredulous and fulminated - "nobody in Ireland thinks of Britain as 'the mainland'".

Not true anymore it seems, sadly.

It seems that the minister wants the opposite of what he's calling for. As a Kerryman he knows the GAA well enough to know that the worst way of trying to get somehing from the GAA membership is to start demanding it from the outside.

That amazes me! I hadn't realised there was such ready acceptance of it - especially among the GAA community. Do you not see it as patronising, big-brotherly, condescending, etc.?

It must be a generation thing - people who have grown up with it accept it. Those of us who witnessed its introduction are almost outraged by it - it feels like throwing in the towel on the whole history of our relationship with Britain, which has seen us insisting that we're equal entities.

I haven't voted, because it depends what's meant by 'national stadium' and what the terms would be.

So what's the solution? Another ban - no GAA members to read papers? Or wouldn't it be better for the 'no' side to mount an effective campaign? The media is part of democracy these days. Possibly the most important part. There's no point in the losing side whinging that the winners ran a better campaign (if that's what happened).

And I'd still have more time for the 'perversion of democracy' argument if its proponents had been equally vocal about McCague playing fast and loose with vote counting and people disappearing into the jacks to pervert their mandate and bags of money being put on the table by the government on the eve of a vote. I think it's a reasonable conjecture that the 'open up' decision would have come a lot EARLIER if democracy had not been perverted.

I know. Hence my smiley.

How did he dupe us, by the way? I hate being duped. I hate even more not understanding how I was duped, so I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know.

Farraendeelin, i believe that most of the population want it now.....

Better stop it, then.

I know, I know - but the problem for those against it is that I'd venture most of the GAA wants it as well.